Have Cheetah,Will View #323 – “Nox” (2019)

Its 9:19 am
cold/overcast
Almost two years ago the cheetah and I had the pleasure of reviewing a very sharp French short film called “Vesper” which was written and directed by 18 year old Keyvan Sheikhalishahi. This was Keyvan’s directing debut and he did a fine job with some excellent casting.
I was curious as to what “Nox” meant and it turns out to be Latin for “night” which fits this exciting thriller to a “T”.

The story opens up with a man and a woman arming themselves with handguns equipped with silencers. We then see them running down a driveway and approaching a big house. The man (Matt Passmore) and the woman (Brigitte Millar) put small ear pieces in and split up.

The man then disarms the security system and both he and the woman enter the house.
Once inside,the woman starts stealing jewelry and the man meets her on the second floor and asks his partner if it is “done”. The woman answers yes and the two thieves go downstairs where the man walks straight to a hidden safe,its clear he knew where the safe was.

The man begins to enter the combination with no sweat and tells his partner she needs to leave a little more of a mess and then he is startled by the fact the safe won’t open.
As he tries again,he and his partner begins to share some information about the people who live at the home which only sets the man on edge and he puts on a stethoscope and hits the safe again. He hits paydirt and grabs a fat stack of cash and the the couple escape flawlessly from the house….its a clean getaway,or is it??

Daydreams happen for everyone and in “Nox’one man whose life is about to unravel on the most important night in his life,his ability to escape reality by a daydream may be his only salvation. Of course facing what has caused him to land in such a situation doesn’t enter the picture until its far too late.
I really liked “Nox” quite a bit,I thought it was directed and shot extremely well. Where as I commented in my review “Vesper” that Keyvan would only improve with each film,I can assure you he certainly has. Keyvan,whose writing talent shows tremendous talent,has taken the lessons learned from Vesper and applied them to Nox…the lighting is perfect and moody at the same time. The story is easy to follow and well spaced,he crams in a ton of action in only 13 minutes!!!

Once again Keyvan employs his ace up the sleeve and that is his casting. For such a young director he can pull in some extremely established talent…..like Matt Passmore who is an well known Australian actor who is now making noise in Hollywood appearing in “Jigsaw” and the TV series “Lethal Weapon”.
Brigitte Millar,who plays the woman,is also a gifted and talented actress who has appeared in the James Bond film “Spectre” as well as in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”. She has a most chilling smile and she can run in a leather jacket quite well!!
Keyvan’s muse and the star of Vesper,the lovely Agnes Godey also is in “Nox” and while she doesn’t say a word,the whole film revolves around her and you’ll understand why when you see the film.

“Nox” is 13 minutes long and it continues an outstanding trend of great short films we have watched in 2019. Keyvan Sheikhalishahi has taken a big step forward in his film making and I’m thinking it might be time for him to stretch his wings out and take a shot at a feature length film. I sure would love to see what he would cook up….as long as he can cast Agnes in a large role!!!

The cheetah and I gave “Nox” two thumbs/three paws straight up.

What short film has impressed you as of late? Drop a comment and tell us about it!

This sounds intriguing. I don’t watch short films. Perhaps I should. For me, a good movie is a means of escape like daydreaming is for the character in this film. It allows my mind to decompress with someone else’s problems. 15 minutes is just not enough–for me. That said, to be able to concentrate a film idea into a few minutes so that it entertains and intrigues is an art in and of itself. If I run into to Nox I will watch it, whereas I wouldn’t have prior to your review.
Very nice review.
Pam

This year has been amazing for short films,easily the best crop since I have been reviewing,some are very well known like “Room 8” but films like “Leap” and “Nox” are relatively unknown outside festivals and need a bigger audience. I look at short films as vehicles for directors and actors to hone their craft before stepping into the feature film world.